


A Bundle of Joy

by Lunarium



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adoption, Background Polydins, Birthday, Birthday Party, Children, Fluff, Hunkuary, Ice, M/M, Married Life, Multi, Rescue, Snow, Trans Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:34:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22479517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: It's Hunk's birthday, and the team celebrates on a snowy planet. While on a stroll with Lance, the two notice a shimmer of light under the icy surface of the lake.
Relationships: Hunk/Lance (Voltron)
Kudos: 6





	A Bundle of Joy

**Author's Note:**

> Fic for Hunkuary! Fulfills the prompt for Day 30, “Family”. 
> 
> A continuation, of sorts, from my fic [Tie The Knot Fivefold](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20511362). Set about six years from that point, although you're not required to read this story to understand what happens here!

Icy cosmic clouds trickled past the Yellow Lion’s viewing window. Shimmering terrain of Kraydah’s largest moon gleaned past its dense layers of cosmic clouds as they parted, but the moon was not their destination. Still, the sight provided a momentary amusement to the children aboard the Yellow Lion, faces pressed against the glass window and chattering away excitedly as the pilot tried to discern Coran’s words over the den. 

_Holy crow, you’d think this Castle of Lions would have better radio signals than the ancient one_ , Hunk thought, referring to the place officially now known as Castle Gradam. 

The previous Castle had been long destroyed—necessarily to heal the rips in time and space—but a new Castle had been built. The vast castle was their new home in Scotland for years before it was ready to take flight, and this was to be their first venture out as a family within the castle. All the same, Hunk and Lance had agreed to fly Yellow and Blue alongside Gradam, mainly for the kids who wanted the experience of sailing the stars in a Lion. But they also piloted in the small chance of an attack. 

Under canopies of clouds, Kraydah itself appeared not unlike the vast terrain of snowy mountains back on Earth, but the children were drawn to its charm all the same. Snow was still a novelty for many, especially those whose mother planet did not experience snow. And as Gradam and Lions neared the ground, the aerial beauty grew more apparent—

“Look, it’s the Rainbow Sea!” Laith the Puigian announced. 

“That would be Kraydah’s _aurora borealis_ ,” Chip said matter-of-factly. “It is not, in fact, an actual sea.” 

“But it is said the gods travel on this cosmic sea and watch over the Kraydians and grant wishes!” little Alfor piped. 

Argument dissolved among the group, all playful quibble, that Hunk chuckled to himself and didn’t have the heart to order them to quiet down so he could better hear Coran’s commands on the radio. 

Having landed on the previously-agreed region, a respectful distance away from any Kraydian community, inhabitants of the Yellow Lion, Blue Lion, and Gradam filed out. Shiro had his hands full, as he was carrying baby Heath, Hunk and Keith’s infant child, in his arms while Keith struggled with reigning toddler Akira in; meanwhile, a very pregnant Allura held on to Shiro’s arm for support. 

“I’ll take it from here!” Lance chirped as he came to Allura’s side and offered his hand. 

Hunk coughed, about to remind Lance that it had been confirmed Allura was now carrying _his_ own child, but decided against it and helped Coran and Pidge set up the picnic. Romelle and Krolia were already laying out plates as Ryou entertained the kids, keeping them all in check so none wandered off. 

“Right! Head count!” Coran called out. “Bubbledoodle Number One?” 

“Present!” Chip answered. 

“Bubbledoodle Number Two?” 

“Here!” That was Sven. 

Hunk scanned the vicinity. About six years later after their big six-paladin wedding, and they were already up to eleven children: five the natural way, four through adoption from numerous parts of the universe, and one fully built—a robot child. And that was not including the twelfth, who Allura now carried. 

“So, what would you all like me to grill for you?” Hunk asked Allura and Lance’s twins. 

Before they could answer, their little bodies just bursting with a million requests, Krolia stepped in. 

“ _You_ will be relaxing,” Krolia said.

“Yep!” Romelle chimed in as Ryou approached, laden with hot dogs and burgers for the grill. “You’re the birthday boy! You let the rest of us handle the cooking!”

“But I won’t mind—I enjoy—”

Lance pounced on him from behind, wrapping one arm around his neck. A swift peck to his cheek before he joined in on the mutiny: “Nah, why don’t you just sit back and absorb the rays of the Rainbow Sea while everyone else worry themselves?

And so the two broke off as the others busied for the bash. Lance pranced before Hunk around the edge of the frozen lake like some character on Baywatch, strutting his stuff and pretending he was about to take a dive. 

“How do I look?” Lance asked. 

Pidge answered for Hunk from a distance. “Like a total goober!”

“Hey, I don’t! Hunk!”

Hunk chuckled. While he had to agree with Pidge, he was also enjoying the hind view of Lance. 

He glanced out over the lake while Lance and Pidge engaged in a long-distance row. During the daytime, the light of the Rainbow Sea’s didn’t shine as brightly, but it still cast a faint iridescence trail across the frozen lake and snow, and thus Hunk at first passed off a detail in the distance for just a reflection of the aerial river. 

“Now, where was I?” Lance chuckled. He threw his arms around are Hunk and planted kisses around his face, but in that moment, the iridescent trail shifted…save for the miniscule piece Hunk had noted earlier. 

“Holy crow…wait…Lance…do you see that?” 

“Hmm?”

Hunk pointed. “There, under the lake. There’s something glowing there. It’s not a reflection of the rainbow!” 

“Yeah, yeah, I see it…”

“Someone’s in there!” 

Without another word, Lance produced his bayard, and right as it formed into a broadsword, he pierced the icy layer of the lake. A moment later and he plunged in. 

“Oh! Cold, cold, cold!” Lance whined as he popped back a split second later. 

“Duh, who goes into a freezing lake like that?!” Hunk chastised. 

Teeth clattering, Lance squeezed on his watch, and his paladin armor and mesh formed over his winter jacket and boots—he must have been in a real bad shape to not perform his usual Sailor Moon-esque transformation sequence. 

In that time clamor could be heard behind them as others took note of the commotion, but Hunk kept his eyes on Lance as he plunged back into the icy depths and swam to the glowing source.

⁂

“Hurry, she needs salt water!”

“On it!” 

“What are you doing?!” Allura cried out when she saw Atto the Olkarion drag out one of the healing pods from the infirmary and lean it horizontally. 

“It’s the best aquarium we have,” he explained. “And we don’t have time. Zed! Did you bring the water?” 

The Balmeran reappeared along with a few of their siblings, all carrying buckets. “Got it!” 

Meanwhile, Shiro was helping with the thawing process. A tiny Mer shimmered eerily in a large encase of ice, suspended in animation. 

“Weird, how do you think she got there?” Pidge asked. 

“Couldn’t have been the Kraydians,” Krolia said. “Thace and Ulaz spoke fondly of the natives on this planet.” 

“Could Glacerra be in danger?” Lance asked. Hunk gave a frown and shrugged.

“We can always radio them,” Allura said. “You said the Mer were working on setting up means to communicate with the rest of the Voltron alliance..” 

Lance laughed uneasily. “Yeah...Blumfump...electricity…in Glacerra...” 

The ice thawed completely and the tiny Mer flapped her fin once, twice, opened her eyes and regarded everyone in the room. Her gills seized up as she struggled for breath before Lance reached out and gently picked her up. 

“Here,” he whispered and plopped her into the makeshift aquarium. 

“Who are you? What is your name?” Keith asked, although his words weren’t said with any inclination he anticipated an answer. “What happened to you?” 

In a more proper environment, she regarded them again but said not a word. 

Pidge frowned. “Since she’s staying with us, we’ll need to think of a better tank. Didn’t you say you wore bubbles on your heads while you were in Glacerra, Hunk? We can reverse engineer something like that.”

She nodded towards Chip whose shoulders quivered as his mind began producing a blueprint for such an apparatus. “Processing...” 

The Mer took note of Hunk and Lance and pressed a tiny hand against the glass. 

Shiro chuckled next to Keith. “Think she decided who her parents are.” 

Meeting gazes, Hunk and Lance chuckled. Their time with the Mer was one of their fondest, if not most bond-testing, times. 

“Looks like it’s our turn to adopt a kid under our names,” Hunk said. “But...we’ll need a name for her.” 

Lance thought for a moment. “How about Belle? Blue Belle! That’s a beautiful name!” 

“Eh…it’s an idea.” Hunk turned to the others. “Come on, we’re all in this big marriage together! Other suggestions?” 

Keith shrugged. “Ophelia?” 

“Ophelia?” Hunk raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, why not?” Keith said. “You found her in the water.” 

“I know you like to read, Keith, but please…not a name like Ophelia…any others?”

“Belugarina!” Allura suggested brightly. Romelle perked up. 

“A wonderful suggestion, princess!” Coran said as Romelle nodded enthusiastically. 

Lance made a face. “No way!” 

“But Belugarina is—”

“We’re not naming our daughter after a Beluga whale!” 

“Well, I highly respected my Big Sib back at the Garrison,” Shiro said, “and her name was Orla.” 

“No way!” Pidge snarled. “Not Orla Pataki?! She was an officer in my first year, and she was one nasty piece of work towards me when I was there! Crone was on my case from Day One!” A smug grin spread across Pidge’s face. “Of course, I took my revenge by wooing all the ladies she eyed.” 

“Pidge, your romantic adventures are aspiring!” Allura sighed, amazed. 

“Okay, this clearly isn’t working,” Hunk mumbled. He pulled out his mobile phone and sifted through a baby name website, hunting for the perfect name, something they would all love—

“Oh, perfect!” he announced. “Orabel!” 

“Orabel?” Lance asked. “I…that’s nice, actually!” Everyone nodded their approval. 

Coming up against the tank, Hunk showed Orabel her new name on the phone, and pressed his hand against the glass, his own hand so large beside her tiny blue webbed hand.

He smiled at his and Lance’s little bundle of joy as she studied her name, recognizing what it was, and smiled up at him. 

_What a beautiful birthday gift_ , he thought as Lance came up beside him, arms around him. The others huddled around them. 

“Welcome to the family, Orabel!” Hunk welcomed fondly.

**Author's Note:**

> My favorite Hunk/Lance moments were from “The Depths”. I miss those two. :’) So, of course, I wanted their adopted child to be a Mer! <3 
> 
> The Kraydians mentioned is a reference to another work of mine: [Under the Aurora of Kraydah](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17805812), a Thace/Ulaz fic. 
> 
> Shiro’s Big Sib, Orla Pataki, is a pun on the Hey Arnold character, Olga Pataki, although the character here isn’t meant to be Olga.


End file.
